Pamela, shown in the photo, wears her Rapha softshell throughout the winter. She is a perfect example of why this is such an incredible jacket as she logged over 500 road miles during the last week of December this year. That was a very cold week and most people wouldn’t have considered riding during that time. But there she was, riding on sub-zero days enjoying every minute!

Espresso:

On the La Marzocco we’ll be pulling shots of the George Howell Alchemy espresso. We’ve brought this great espresso into the Studio a few times before, but just for a day here and there. Now we’ll have it all week, giving you the chance to try it out in all your favorite drinks. Start with an espresso on day 1, a Cortado on day 2, and perhaps a latte on day 3.

Pour Over Coffees:

With Alchemy in the espresso grinder we couldn’t leave our Stumptown fans behind so, while Hairbender will be taking the week off, we’ll be offering a Pour Over of an excellent  Ethiopian coffee from our friends in Portland. From the four Ethiopian coffees Stumptown offers we chose their newest, the Ethiopia Sota. This is Stumptown’s first offering from Western Ethiopia, where only 143 farmers make up the Sota growers group. One of the particularly unique things about these beans is that they are Ethiopian Heirloom varietals, meaning that the plants are indigenous to the country. These are some of the most coveted beans in the world. If that wasn’t enough to entice us to give them a try, the tasting notes of the Sota couldn’t be passed up; “a dense cup reminiscent of cola brimming with flavors of dark fruits and Satsuma orange accented by cinnamon and honey.” Simply mouthwatering. If you’re sitting at your desk, with a few more minutes to kill before the big escape, be sure to check out Stumptown’s stunning pictures of Ethiopia on their webpage dedicated to the Sota beans.

Last, but not least we’ll be continuing the new coffee from Ritual Coffee Roasters that we started on Monday. Check out our last blog post to learn more about the Kaliluni Peaberry from Kenya. As customers over the past few days have pointed out, this is a very unique coffee that is a great example of the special and different flavors that can be found in single origin coffees. As with all coffees we offer, these beans have been medium roasted to enhance, but not overwhelm the flavors inherent to the beans. The gentle roasting process brings out the notes of Oolong tea, dried raspberries, and chestnuts. While we are more than happy to offer you milk and sugar to accompany your coffee, try it without first, you might be surprised! Because of the light flavor, many people have found they can forgo the usual accompaniments and enjoy a black cup of coffee (sometimes for the first time in their life!).

1. Variety is the spice of life! Subscribe to the RSC Blog, Facebook page, and Twitter accounts to keep abreast of our consistently rotating coffees. Be the first of your friends to stop by the Studio to try the lastest and greatest. Chat it up with the Baristas to learn the background of each coffee and then impress your friends with your newly acquired knowledge!

2. Ritual has been a great partner for our guest coffee program. Freshly roasted coffee beans arrive on our doorstep weekly! They’ve got great people that care about their product (to the point of obsession!). Brandon, one of their coffee guru’s is always happy to answer our questions about anything coffee related. For instance, on our last call with him, he not only told us about the Kaliluni coffee, but also gave us a history lesson on coffee sales in the Kaliluni’s home country of Kenya.

3. The Kalilui coffee is from the great coffee growing country of Kenya. The soil and altitude of the growing regions in Kenya are perfectly suited for coffee growth. Further, coffee in Kenya is sold through an auction system with each bag going to the highest bidder. This encourages growers to achieve higher and higher quality crops to beat out their competition. And the competition is fierce; according to the Coffee Board of Kenya in 2005 there are 700,000 smallholders organized into 600 coops and 3300 estates.  Kenya’s government has also established very high quality parameters to grade coffee, which helps to further drive coffee farmers to produce the highest quality beans possible.

4. Great taste! Kenyan coffee is known for having sharp acidity, full body, and a very pointed fine flavor. The Kaliluni Peaberry doesn’t disappoint! It is a very bright and flavorful coffee with notes of dried raspberries, Formosa Oolong, and roasted chestnuts.

Coffee Specs Provided by Ritual:

• Producer: Kaliluni Farmers Co-op Society
• Altitude: 2100 MASL
• Varietal: SL28, SL 35
• Flavors: Dried Raspberry, Oolong, Roasted Chestnuts
• About 80 kilometers south and west of the capitol of Nairobi, the members of the Kaliluni Farmers Cooperative Society (FCS) grow these SL28 and SL34 variety coffees at elevations ranging from 1850 to 2100 meteres above sea level. This lot is a collection of some of the smallest beans from these trees, the peaberries. Peaberries are a result of a natural mutation of 4-6% of the trees, where the fruit of the tree produces only one seed instead of two. Unlike most of the northern coffee producing regions in Kenya that harvest throughout the winter, the Kaliluni FSC harvest sees the majority of their harvest in the summer as part of the fly crop.

Andrea won pie after winning the women's elite race at Downeast. Now she has stars and stripes after winning the masters' national race. Photo by Dave Chiu.

Andrea Smith has been Ride Studio Cafe’s head mechanic since day 1. She’s worked hard in the shop, and has continued to train hard after-hours, in pursuit of reaching her cyclocross racing goals. This past weekend, Andrea was crowned National Masters’ 30-34 cyclocross champion in Madison, Wisconsin.

Unrelated, but at the same time, Andrea has gotten the chance to move to the Phoenix, Arizona area. Her last day at the Studio was just before she traveled to Wisconsin, but she’ll be back to Boston this week to pack and say goodbye.

Thursday evening from 6-8, we’re serving brews and cake to celebrate the time Andrea has been with us & her awesome performance at Nationals! Come by to wish Andrea well and celebrate all she has accomplished!

Watch the race where Andrea takes the national title!

A lot of people ride through the winter here – even through icy and snowy conditions. No doubt you’ve been part of a conversation with someone lately who’s been talking about what they are doing to outfit their winter bike and themselves. If you want ideas on the proper fenders, tires, warm clothing, lights, etc., we’ll fill you in on what we’ve discovered through lots of cold-weather riding and customer experience. We stock everything you need for the winter…you don’t have to stop riding when the weather turns. But just because you can ride outside doesn’t mean you should.

Some people are getting their bikes secured on indoor trainers and are ready to settle in to a winter training routine. Trainer time is good time to listen to books on tape and catch up on some movie watching…and it’s warm and traffic-free. Trainer time is something I always used to look forward to as a Colorado cyclist and racer. No, I didn’t have a winter bike then.

One constant is that cyclists here rarely stop or take a break. It is true that you get faster when you’re resting and recovering, not while riding. Therefore, to start the new year, we’d like to encourage you to rest a little and treat yourself even if the sun is shining and the roads are still clear.

One particularly effective way of recovering and relaxing is by getting a massage. We feel fortunate to have found Morgan Massage – a massage therapy practice that lives up to our high standard of doing great work and we wanted to introduce you to him. He understands the human body and he knows what a body that spends hours on a bike needs to be healthy and feel good…and go faster. He offers many different techniques and gives each client specifically what he or she needs and wants.

Thanks go out to John & Pamela for telling us about Morgan. They just completed the Rapha 500 Ride of Redemption logging insane miles (900 miles for them both combined between Dec 23rd and Dec 31st!) These two rely on Morgan to keep them in tact.

For Ride Studio Cafe Club Members, Morgan is offering a super special deal (he is only doing this for the Ride Studio Cafe!) It’s a 60-minute massage for the price of 30 minutes. We have vouchers for each of you at the Studio, so come by and get yours when you have a chance!

So rest, recover, enjoy the start of 2012! We have a lot in store at the Ride Studio Cafe for this year. To stay up on the latest: check out our website, blog and calendar of events, participate on our Facebook page and the Ride Studio Club Facebook page, sign up to receive our eNewsletter and join our Twitter conversation.

Cheers to a great New Year for all!

Patria & the Ride Studio Cafe Team

First, each bar contains only cocoa beans and cane sugar. Can’t get much more simple than that! Despite having a super simple ingredient statement, each bar has a uniquely delicious flavor. For instance, in the Rio Caribe bar you can find flavors of coffee, blood orange, and nuts. Like coffee, the cocoa beans come from different countries, regions, and farms. The differing origins give each bean a flavor of its own. Also like coffee, the cocoa beans go through a process that borders on art and science, which brings them from almost flavorless seeds to the delicious treat we know as chocolate.

On that note, a second reason to love the Rogue Chocolatier is that Colin Gasko, the companies founder has gone to painstaking lengths to perfect the process of chocolate making. Similar to how many coffee establishments (like our friends over at George Howell) are taking coffee through the ENTIRE process; from farm, to green bean, to roasted bean, to a cup off coffee, Rogue and few others are taking chocolate from “bean to bar.” If you’re curious to learn more about the precision and craftsmanship that goes into each step of the process check out Rogue’s twitter feed. Frequent daily updates give you a great idea of what goes on behind the scenes of the Rogue Chocolatier.

Don’t just take our word for it, a third reason to come in and try out the Rogue chocolate bars is that their competition, other chocolatiers have given Rogue accolades for being a leader in chocolate making. Check out this article from Wired magazine in which Bryan Graham from Fruition Chocolate sites Rogue as a chocolate company to watch. The article also sheds light on the entire chocolate making process. In true Wired form, the article details the intricacies of each step of the process.

Last, but not least…if you head out west on the Mass Pike you can find the brand new Rogue Chocolatier factory in Three Rivers, MA. Local, simple, made to perfection, and great tasting…a combination you can’t beat! Come into the Studio to pick up a holiday treat for yourself or a last minute Christmas present for that last person on your list.

Notes of Darjeeling, lemon, and apricot make a cup of the George Howell Terroir Konga a uniquely delicious coffee. If the caffeine doesn’t wake you up, the zesty lemon end notes will be sure to do the job! The beans are certified organic and sourced from a number of small farms in Ethiopia (many of which are run by women). This not only yields a great tasting cup of coffee, but also means you’re doing your part to help world coffee farmers.

The Konga beans grabbed the attention of the Good Food awards this year placing it at the head of the pack - amongst a select few excellent coffees. Each year this group of food producers, chefs, food writers and passionate food-lovers “celebrate the kind of food we all want to eat: tasty, authentic and responsibly produced. We grant awards to outstanding American food producers and the farmers who provide their ingredients. We…honor the Good Food Award recipients who push their industries towards craftsmanship and sustainability while enhancing our agricultural landscape and building strong communities.” The requirements for coffee include: “exemplary flavor – sweet, clean, well developed body, balanced acidity and phenomenal aromatics. To qualify for entry, roasters and coffee farmers must emphasize fairness and transparency from seed to cup, and be using third party certified organic beans. Once again, coffee is leading the way towards sustainability.”

Come by the Studio for a Pour Over or French Press of the Konga. Want to make it at home? We have a limited supply of 12 oz bags of Konga beans.

First, George Howell and his crew have been extremely supportive of our Cafe project from the very beginning.  They believed in us before anyone else did!

Second, George Howell is a local coffee roaster – based in Acton, MA.  It’s great having them right down the road; we can visit them anytime to learn the latest happenings in the world of coffee.  And learn a bit of history, too; George is, after all, the father of coffee in the Boston area.

Third, George Howell is a coffee staple for the Studio – we always have at least one coffee from GH available for pourover.  We’ve rarely have their espresso as a guest.

Fourth, and foremost for this weekend, we’re getting to try their newest incarnation of Alchemy, with beans from Brazil, Costa Rica, and Guatemala.  This set of regions provides a balanced espresso blend with a strong and complex flavor.

Get ready for tasting notes that include nectarine, apricot, and dark chocolate with a cherry finish. Not sure we can wait until Saturday morning!

And if that weren’t enough to convince you to stop by, Sal – the Studio’s resident master barista and cafe teacher – will be pulling Alchemy shots all day.  He may drink most of the Alchemy so you might want to stop by early!

Need ideas to satisfy everyone for whom you’re shopping this holiday season? We have a few here and even more if you ask us our opinion on the subject given the specific interests of the bike or coffee lover in your life.

A Ride Studio Cafe Gift Card is guaranteed to please. It’s available in any denomination and is the same as cash at the Studio. It may be used to purchase bikes, anything in the cafe, apparel, accessories, nutrition products and bike service. Need something we don’t have on our shelves? We’ll order it in for you to arrive when you need it.

Gift ideas ranging from $8 – 20.

Buy any of these items, receive a Free Drink Card.

• Rock “N” Roll Gold bike lubrication ($7.50): Often overlooked but always needed, the Studio offers Rock “N” Roll Gold lubrication – lube ideal for every type of bike and riding condition, it’s a perfect stocking stuffer.

• Mad Alchemy Chamois Creme for $20: Available in men’s and women’s formulations, your cyclist will be pleasantly surprised that you are in the know. Mad Alchemy’s embrocation will keep riding pleasantly toasty at this time of year.

• Rouleur Magazine for $20:  We have yet to meet a cyclist that could put this book-like magazine down once it has been opened; the pictures, the stories, and the lay-out are all top notch.

• Coffeee Beans: We proudly serve George Howell’s Terroir coffee year-round and also offer this outstanding coffee in 12-ounce bag. We sell whole beans but are happy to grind them for you if you need. Our guest roaster for December and January is Ritual Coffee Roasters. Bags of these fine beans are also available for purchase.

Gift ideas for $50-100

Receive a Fine & Raw Chocolate Bar

• Ride Studio Cafe black Winter Hat ($60):  A Studio favorite.  You can’t go wrong with this stylish piece that looks great on and off the bike–it’s also very warm on and off the bike.

• Winter Gloves ($50/$70):  Yes, your cyclist already has a pair of winter gloves.  However, a cyclist always needs two or more pairs–have you ever put day old sweaty winter gloves on before a cold ride?  Not fun.  Having a second pair ensures the first 10-minutes of riding are as good as can be.

• Pearl Izumi Winter Shoe Covers ($75):  Cold or frost bitten feet will ruin anyone’s group ride as well as the rest of their day. Winter booties will keep their feet warm and cozy. Don’t forget about the Rapha overshoes, too.

• Tune-up Gift Card from RSC ($60):  The perfect idea for the cyclist that has everything.  Everyone needs a tune-up for the spring.

Gift ideas in the $100-160 range:

•   Pair of Schwalbe Tires ($70 each). Schwalbe makes a variety of tires for a variety of conditions, but the one constant is that they are known to laugh in the face of things that make other tires go flat.

• Nightrider light with 350 lumens and cordless ($110). This is like strapping 350 candles to your bike and riding into the night. It’s a commuter’s dream come true!

• Seven Wool Jersey ($160):  A perennial favorite.  This is a fine wool jersey that is machine washable. If it didn’t have pockets for your cycling needs, you’d be likely to show up to a nice dinner wearing it.

Gift ideas for over $200

• A Ride Studio Service Package! These are all new and are sure to delight. These are gifts that keep on giving. Our pro mechanics are here to treat each bike to what equates to its going to a bike spa.

• Garmin Edge 500 GPS Cycling Computer ($249):  The perfect technology gift, along with GPS capability, it has countless functions useful to the everyday cyclist.  Highlights include altimeter, virtual partner, workouts, thermometer, and many more.

• Garmin Edge 800 GPS Cycling Computer ($425): Take the benefits of the Edge 500 and add an easy-to-use touch screen, full color display and street maps and you have this powerful cycling computer.

• Rapha Classic Softshell Jacket ($375):  Possibly the nicest piece of cycling clothing ever made, wind proof, water resistant, durable, all in a classy package that is equally at home in a pub or by the fireplace.

If none of these ideas are right for your cyclist, stop by the Studio or give us a call; we can make lots of other recommendations. We’re happy to put any of these items in the mail to you or the gifts’ recipient, too.